Charlotte

Bank of America slipped a spot to fourth place on a ranking of lenders with top mortgage market share. San Francisco-based Wells Fargo is still the nation's largest mortgage lender, followed by JPMorgan Chase and Detroit-based Quicken Loans.

The Charlotte City Council voted 6-5 against a proposal that would have extended nondiscrimination protections to include sexual orientation and gender identity. Prior to the vote, the council removed a controversial section of the ordinance that would have allowed transgender people to use the bathroom of the the gender they identify with.

A contract between Carolinas HealthCare System and UnitedHealthcare expired Saturday, which means tens of thousands of United customers are now considered out-of-network for CHS providers. The change affects one of Charlotte's largest employers –Duke Energy uses UnitedHealthcare. Charlotte-based CHS said it will extend temporary in-network pricing to some United customers.

Through large business-incentive packages, the Palmetto State is luring companies to the Fort Mill and Rock Hill areas, just south of Charlotte along I-77. LPL Financial broke ground Thursday on its new Fort Mill, S.C., headquarters, where it will eventually employ up to 3,000 workers. LPL plans to move about 1,000 workers from Charlotte to the new 450,000-square-foot campus.

The renovated clubhouse at Cramer Mountain Club will feature 17 executive office suites with golf-course views. The private club closed and entered bankruptcy in 2012. Residents successfully launched a campaign to reform the club, but the massive 35,000-square-foot clubhouse posed a challenge for developer Eric Vargosko. Five of the suites, which range from 630 to 6,000 square feet, have already sold.

Chad Holliday Jr. and Clayton Rose will not seek re-election to the board of directors at Bank of America. Holliday was named chairman of Royal Dutch Shell in October; Rose will become president of Bowdoin College in Maine. Also stepping down is Chief Accounting Officer Neil Cotty. Rudolf Bless, deputy chief accounting officer, will replace him.

Dollar Tree CEO Bob Sasser said he expects the discount-store chain will have to close no more than 300 stores in order to receive FTC approval of its acquisition Family Dollar Stores. He says many Family Dollar stores will be rebranded to Dollar Tree after the deal closes. Dollar Tree hasn't said how many jobs it will cut at Family Dollar's Matthews headquarters.

E2 Emeril's Eatery in downtown Charlotte will close April 26 due to slow business. "The restaurant was never able to achieve the volume projected when we came to Charlotte," E2 tweeted. Celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse opened the restaurant in 2012.

Allegiant Air will add twice-weekly, nonstop service from Concord to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., beginning May 8. It's the low-cost carrier's third Florida destination from Concord Regional Airport; Allegiant already has flights to the Orlando and Tampa Bay areas.

Charlotte-based Polypore will be sold to a Japanese chemical company in a deal valued at $3.2 billion. Asahi Kasei will pay $60.50 per share in cash for the parent company of Celgard, which makes battery components and has plants in Charlotte and Concord.

U.S. Attorney Anne Tompkins will leave office in two weeks. Tompkins, 52, has been the top federal prosecutor for the Western District of North Carolina since 2010 and directed the corruption investigation of former Charlotte Mayor Patrick Cannon. First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Rose will serve as acting attorney until a replacement is named.

Federal prosecutors on Friday filed nine misdemeanor charges against Duke Energy for coal-ash pollution at the utility's power plants in Asheville, Charlotte, Eden, Goldsboro and Moncure. In an earnings report released earlier in the week, Charlotte-based Duke said it had agreed to pay $102 million to settle the cases.Related: Federal probe appears to blame Duke Energy, not NC DENR

Uptown Charlotte, which is projected to have more than 15,000 residents by year-end, has plenty of restaurants and bars but a scarcity of retail shops. Chris Hemans, director of retail for Charlotte Center City Partners, says adding better signage for parking and encouraging existing retailers to stay open on the weekends will help lure more shoppers uptown.

CaroMont Health will extend its lease agreement with Gaston County for 40 years and plans to invest $200 million in improvements at the 435-bed hospital. The health system will continue to rent the property for $1 a year, but will make a one-time payment of $20 million to the county in March.

Charlotte-based retailer Belk will lay off 111 workers at a Pineville distribution center as it expands in Jonesville, S.C. Affected employees were offered jobs at the Jonesville center, about 75 miles southwest of Charlotte. The privately owned department-store chain operates 300 stores in 16 states.

Charlotte City Council will consider incentives for Frito-Lay to expand its local plant. The snack-maker would invest $74 million in its 38-year-old factory in southwest Charlotte, adding 30 to 35 jobs to its 563 by 2018.

Charlotte-based Duke Energy said it will pay about $100 million to resolve a federal investigation of its coal-ash management. The investigation began about a year ago, following the Feb. 2, 2014 spill that dumped up to 39 million tons of coal ash into the Dan River ("Heart of Coal," April 2014).

Alevo Group signed an agreement with Philadelphia-based Customized Energy Solutions to supply 200 megawatts of its GridBank energy-storage units. Alevo opened a manufacturing site in October at the former Philip Morris plant in Concord and plans to hire up to 2,500 workers within three years (Statewide, December).

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan's compensation fell to $13 million in 2014, $1 million less than the previous year. Moynihan's base salary remained the same, while his stock bonus fell to $11.5 million from $12.5 million in 2013. Annual profit for the Charlotte-based bank fell by 58%.Related: "After the Fall," January